Drivers increasingly use in-vehicle navigation systems to obtain driving directions when traveling to a destination. In-vehicle navigation systems may be adapted to calculate a route from a starting point to a destination and provide directions to a driver as the driver travels along the route. There may be many potential routes to a destination. Conventional navigation systems, therefore, may be adapted to determine an optimal route based on heuristics that estimate, for example, the distance to the destination or the time to reach the destination.
In some circumstances, however, conventional navigation systems may select a route that is less than optimal because they may not be adapted to analyze actual historical travel times along a route. As a result, some conventional navigation systems may select a route having a longer travel time compared to other potential routes.
Therefore, a need exists for a navigation system and method that analyzes actual historical data and other route information when determining an optimal route to a destination.